TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian president unveiled a project to desalinate sea water from the Persian Gulf and supply it to arid areas, particularly in central Iran.
In remarks at a cabinet session on Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani said this is the first of such projects to supply desalinated water to desert areas.
“Tomorrow, we are inaugurating a project which will be a little different from the projects that became operational in the past week. Our country has developed a new technology to desalinate water for regions that are more frequently affected by drought, including areas in and around deserts,” he said.
“In fact, we are going to utilize the desalination technology on a large-scale across the country. Areas which need water, be it for drinking or industrial use or other uses, and which would like to make investment in this regard, will be able to do so.
“Fortunately, the Ministry of Energy has been conducting feasibility studies in 17 provinces in the central plateau of Iran as well as in coastal areas of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.
“Some of the coastal provinces need water, event slat water without being desalinated, for farming marine creatures and other uses. And some provinces need desalinated water. To that end, the first step will be launched tomorrow,” the president added.
“That is a project to supply water to Kerman province, i.e., the project coming on line tomorrow will connect the Persian Gulf to Kerman province. In the next stages, the provinces of Yazd and other provinces will be connected as to the Persian Gulf as well,” Rouhani noted, according to IFP.
“But this very project being inaugurated tomorrow will see 450 million cubic meters of salt water turned into 150 million cubic meters of desalinated water,” he explained.